Wooster Tool to add 120 workers if Westerman accepts state tax credit

Tuesday

Mar 26, 2013 at 4:00 AM

By BOBBY WARRENStaff Writer

WOOSTER -- A Wooster company could see its work force here more than double over the next three years and add $5.4 million in payroll if its leaders accept a 40 percent, seven-year tax credit offered by the Ohio Tax Credit Authority on Monday.

Wooster Tool & Supply, a Westerman company, is looking to add 120 full-time workers over the next three years, spokeswoman Sonya Higginbotham said.

The company manufactures gas and oil separation tanks and gas production units that are used by companies drilling for gas and oil in the Marcellus and Utica shale plays.

The new hires are a result of the expected continued growth of oil and gas drilling in Ohio, said Higginbotham of Worthington Industries. The company purchased Westerman Inc., the parent company of Wooster Tool & Dye, in September for $70 million.

The company employs about 110 in Wooster right now. The company has 60 days to accept the state's offer, and if it does, then in exchange for the credit, Wooster Tool & Dye has to agree to maintain operations here for at least 10 years.

Westerman has a payroll of about $4 million in Wooster, and it will "claim the tax credit on income tax revenue generated at the project location in excess of the company's baseline income tax revenue at the project location," according to a state document regarding the scope of the expansion.

The average wage will be about $45,300 a year, about 50 percent higher than the $29,900 median income in Wayne County, said Rod Crider, president of the Wayne Economic Development Council and member of the Ohio Tax Credit Authority.

Mayor Bob Breneman and Wooster Area Chamber of Commerce President Justin Starlin made the trip to Columbus.

"We came home with good stuff for Westerman, and I hope for the growth of the community," Breneman said.

The new jobs will average more than $21 an hour, and Breneman is hopeful the workers will come to Wooster, find housing and shop at local stores.

"I am optimistic this will happen, but the deal is not done right now," Starlin said. "This is a big win for the Wooster community. This project could have gone anywhere."

Ohio was competing with Pennsylvania, New York, Missouri and Kansas for the expansion project.

"For Worthington to make a significant investment here speaks volumes about the history of the work force here," Starlin said.

Worthington also is a partner in ArtiFlex, formerly Gerstenslager's. When the 120 jobs are added, it will have about 700 employees in the city, Starlin said.

Reporter Bobby Warren can be reached at 330-287-1639 or bwarren@the-daily-record.com. He is @BobbyWarrenTDR on Twitter.